Gilbert K. Chesterton on Education
“Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” Gilbert K. Chesterton
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg on Belief
“First there is a time when we believe everything, then for a little while we believe with discrimination, then we believe nothing whatever, and then we believe everything again – and, moreover, give reasons why we believe.” Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 – 1799)
Judith Viorst on Marriage
“One advantage of marriage is that, when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until you fall in again.” Judith Viorst
Anonymous Quote
“Write a wise saying and your name will live forever.” Anonymous
Ronald Reagan on Economy
“The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” Ronald Reagan 40th president of US (1911 – 2004)
Indira Gandhi on Science
“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.” Indira Gandhi
Benjamin Disraeli Cynical Quote
“How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.” Benjamin Disraeli, Speech at the House of Commons, January 24, 1860 British politician (1804 – 1881)
Mohandas Gandhi on Anger
“Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.” Mohandas Gandhi
Robertson Davies on Books
“A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” Robertson Davies
Winston Churchill on Success
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
Eric Hoffer on Freedom
“When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983)
Aesop on Kindness
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop
Michel de Montaigne on Education
“I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.” Michel de Montaigne
Arthur C. Clarke on Technology
“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” Arthur C. Clarke, “Technology and the Future” (Clarke’s second law) English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
Friedrich Nietzsche on Memory
“The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.” Friedrich Nietzsche German philosopher (1844 – 1900)
Oscar Wilde on Knowledge
“There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating: people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.” Oscar Wilde Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 – 1900)
Albert Camus on Experience
“You cannot acquire experience by making experiments. You cannot create experience. You must undergo it.” Albert Camus French existentialist author & philosopher (1913 – 1960)
P. J. O’Rourke on Politics and Luck
“A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.” P. J. O’Rourke US humorist & political commentator (1947-2022)
Amanda Cross on Quotations
“The point of quotations is that one can use another’s words to be insulting.” Amanda Cross US mystery novelist (1926 – 2003)
Tom Stoppard on Democracy
“It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.” Tom Stoppard, Jumpers (1972) act 1 British dramatist & screenwriter (1937 – )
Stanley Kubrick on Movies
“A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.” Stanley Kubrick
Leonard Bernstein on Inspiration
“Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time… The wait is simply too long.” Leonard Bernstein US composer & conductor (1918 – 1990)
Confucius on Change
“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.” Confucius
Robert Frost on Life
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” Robert Frost US poet (1874 – 1963)
George Santayana on History
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana
Annie Dillard on Life
“There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by.” Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
T. S. Eliot on Humanity
“Humankind cannot stand very much reality.” T. S. Eliot British (US-born) critic, dramatist & poet (1888 – 1965)
Stephen Hawking on Computers
“I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.” Stephen Hawking
Sir William Preece on the Telephone
“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.” Sir William Preece Chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876
George Bernard Shaw on Reading
“Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman. Believing what he read made him mad.” George Bernard Shaw Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Horace on Poetry
“No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.” Horace
Albert Einstein on Computers
“Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid; humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination.” Albert Einstein
Mark Twain’s Cynical Quote
“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
John F. Kennedy on Politics
“Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” John F. Kennedy
Fred Hoyle Cynical Quote
“There is a coherent plan in the universe, though I don’t know what it’s a plan for.” Fred Hoyle English astronomer, mathematician, & popularizer of science (1915 – 2001)
Socrates on Wisdom
“If a man would move the world, he must first move himself.” Socrates
George C. Marshall on Peace
“If man does find the solution for world peace it will be the most revolutionary reversal of his record we have ever known.” George C. Marshall US general (1880 – 1959)
Frank Zappa on the Mind
“A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” Frank Zappa
Salvador Dali on Art
“Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad.” Salvador Dali
W. H. Auden on Poetry
“A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.” W. H. Auden
Josh Billings on Life
“Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.” Josh Billings
Charles Caleb Colton Cynical Quote
“If you would be known, and not know, vegetate in a village; If you would know, and not be known, live in a city.” Charles Caleb Colton (1780 – 1832)
Dave Barry on Sports
“Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face.” Dave Barry
Ernest Rutherford on Science
“All science is either physics or stamp collecting.” Ernest Rutherford, in J. B. Birks “Rutherford at Manchester” (1962) British chemist & physicist (1871 – 1937)
Eugene McCarthy on Bureaucracy
“The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.” Eugene McCarthy, Time magazine, Feb. 12, 1979 US politician (1916 – 2005)
Bill Gates on Success
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” Bill Gates
Peter Drucker on Management
“So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.” Peter Drucker American (Austrian-born) management writer (1909 – 2005)
Carl Sandburg on Time
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” Carl Sandburg
Samuel Johnson on Literature
“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” Samuel Johnson English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 – 1784)
Charles de Gaulle on Patriotism
“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.” Charles de Gaulle